W5AOX APRS Bicycle Mobile
W5AOX Bicycle APRS, Setup, Photos, Etc.
I've been using APRS on my bicycle for over a few months now. For what I think are obvious reasons,
I believe APRS is even more valuable for a bicycle trip of almost any length than for a motorized vehicle.
Biking is fun and great exercise. I've noticed my belly getting flatter and I'm able to eat more of what I enjoy
(I'm an insulin dependent diabetic.) BUT - It is DANGEROUS. Maybe no more dangerous than walking across a typical city street,
but even in Albuquerque, where we have close to a hundred miles of non-motor vehicle bicycle/pedestrian paths,
most of our "bike lanes" are shared with cars and trucks and all the other high speed inattentive potential tons of destruction.
PICTURES Etc:
The W5AOX Bike-Mobile
A closer view of the Fiberglass Bike-Flagpole Jpole
This antenna is BIG and UGLY. I now believe these are attributes for bike riding...
It not only is more effective than any other antenna I've tried (both VHF and UHF work well on most 2M Jpoles),
BUT it also visually attracts attention from passers-by and drivers, hopefully helping them MISS me as they pass.
1/2" blue fiberglass pipe/tube that the Jpole drops into for riding
Another View of top of Jpole support
Lower end of Blue Jpole support pipe clamped on with Stainless Steel Hose Clamps
Jpole is slid into the support pipe upside down to shorten the assembly for travel on the car rack
Rider's View of the Meridian GPS.. powered off its own internal AA X 2 cells
The batteries last about a week of steady commuting
View of home-bent 1/8" X 2" aluminum GPS bracket
This was built as a lash-up mount and works so well it's stayed in place.
The "floppiness" of the bracket actually seems to protect the GPS from shock when hitting rough bumps and pot-holes
the homemade coat-hanger clip allows the GPS to be inserted & twisted 90 degrees when "Saddling Up" for a bike ride
A side view of the mounted GPS.
The other side view of the mounted GPS.
The leather pack containing the Kenwood TH-D7 handheld, spare batteries, cables, adapters, etc., hung below the bike seat
Other side view of the mounted leather Radio pack
Closeup view of the leather APRS-pack, with GPS stowed in the mesh pocket.
This allows carrying the pack in to work or stowing in the car trunk to deter theft
